by T S Campbell

Created on: July 13, 2007

Yes, there is both a heaven and a hell. Of course, if you choose to believe that God doesn't exist, you'll most likely disagree with me on this point. However, for the sake of this essay, I will assume that the reader believes or is at least willing to explore the possibility that what I say here is truth.

Having agreed that there is a God, we look at how He communicates with us. Primarily it is through the Bible, the inspired Word of God. The Bible makes the question of heaven and hell excruciatingly clear. It talks about hell as a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. This would indicate a consciousness on the part of those who are there.

In fact, Luke 16:19-31 tells the parable of a rich man who had everything and a poor beggar named Lazarus who was covered with sores. They both died. Lazarus was carried to Abraham's side, but the rich man went to hell,where he was in torment. He called out 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' The rich man begged him to send Lazarus to his father's house, to warn his five brothers so they wouldn't go to the place of torment. Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' but the rich man countered 'No, father Abraham,' if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Abraham said 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'

Jesus often used parables to explain truths in a way that the largely uneducated masses could understand. This story clearly shows that there are different places you can go after death, however it does not mean that all poor go to heaven all rich go to hell. God is concerned with the state of your heart, not your bank account. The rich and poor analogy shows that if you are a believer and have troubles in this life, the here and now is as much of hell as you will experience - on the other hand, this is the best that those who seemingly have everything in this life will experience if they do not honor God.

It is foolish and ignorant to think

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